The Story of James Robinson

It may seem simplistic, but several years ago Hillary Clinton said (about child rearing) It takes a village! We may never end corruption in ANY country, but we surely can help our neighbors, locally and globally by mentoring, training, teaching, using our collective expertise to solve each others woe’s. In early America, we never let another farmer fail, we helped that family put up their barn, put up their crops and birth their livestock as well as their children. We cared for our neighbors. Now we fear them. We are worried that an immigrant might take our jobs. We never fear that the immigrant can’t feed his/her family… That, sadly, never seems to be of our concern.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson was to create “The Great Society”, this would end poverty, as we knew it, in the United States. Well as we have seen, when government has the way, they never quite get the will. So we have already proven that Governments have no interest in solving the poverty issue. Without poverty, large corporations (I will refer to them as contributors) will not get the reduced labor cost to keep profits high and stockholders happy. What most don’t realize is that if we don’t take care of those in the poverty level, the level will soon overtake us, and before you know it, we are then in direct competition for the lower wage jobs. We are not “contributors” to those in government willing to help the average or below average Joe’s. We don’t have the resources, the lobbyists, the paid consultants. What we do have, however, is our voices and our actions. Convince a local college to mentor several families at the poverty level. I don’t mean the annual food drive around the holidays! I mean lets get our community groups, schools, fraternal organizations and charitable organizations to do more than just supply a family with toys or clothes or a fresh coat of paint on their house. Let’s teach them to fish! Let’s challenge them! Let’s be the seed that keeps their harvest growing! These should be ongoing projects, with input from every corner of our “Village”. We should treat them as we would any fledgling family member. Basking in their success and reviewing their failures.

If we have the brains to put the entire contents of the Library of Congress in the palm of our hand, then we certainly have the ability to lift our most unfortunate out of inherited poverty and make each and every village self sustaining. We should be thankful for every Warren Buffett and Bill Gates that are out there. They alone, can only make the smallest of dents. Those organizations typically assist in global health care. If I make your child healthy but he can’t feed himself, is he any healthier?

We had a start in 1960 when the Kennedy administration started the Peace Corps. That global service was quite noble and started seeds many decades ago. Sadly, it has lost its “Glamor”. We need to insist that it be a part of every college/school curriculum. We don’t need to send our kids to East Timor to understand how poverty destabilizes the world, but 2 weeks a year with Habitat for Humanity or any other community based solution providers each year from age’s 17 to 21 would work wonders to educating the next generation at how close so many people are to inherited poverty. It also would not be a bad idea for employers to allow an extra week of vacation per year to what could be called “village maintenance”. We do it for Jury duty. I can’t think of a more pressing civic obligation than making sure that no FAMILY is left behind!

Lastly, I believe that we need to take down our barriers! No not the ones at our nations borders, the ones in our brains. It can’t be Us vs. Them! In the late 1920’s, the U.S. was on the verge of a great society. Stocks we high, money was flowing, riches abounded for the most affluent. As we know history shall repeat itself. The families that made it through the Great Depression were the ones that could knuckle down and not fear what tomorrow would bring. Let me give you an example; I love my high-efficiency washer and dryer… I don’t know how I could exist without them! Ask a poor family in Arkansas if they could live without their washer and dryer… The question would probably be answered ” Heck, I’d appreciate having electricity or running water!”

Like she said, It will take us, the village, to solve our poverty problem.